


Just say thank you

by t50109871



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Bucky Barnes can't sleep, Feels, Fluff, Happy Ending, M/M, Pining, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Has A Heart, winteriron
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:02:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24067039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/t50109871/pseuds/t50109871
Summary: Barnes has trouble sleeping. Tony helps.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark
Comments: 16
Kudos: 225





	Just say thank you

Tony was dozing off on the couch when he heard someone knocking. As he woke up, he instinctively grabbed the gun he hid under the sofa.

It's an old habit. A horrible, anxiety-driven habit that Pepper hated. He started hiding guns when he was 17, one day after his parents died. Even now, when just one word from him could make all the weapons in his workshop fly around, he still went for the gun first.

Then Tony remembered no one 'knocks' his door anymore. The automatic glass door with Friday guarding 24/7?

Yes, there was only one person that Friday would let in without warning, one who knew he was always allowed in but knocked anyway.

Barnes was standing in front of the door, looking guilty like he did something terribly wrong. He reminded Tony of those dogs on the internet, the one that made a mess, and the star of the owner's shitty video. But a hot one. Very very hot.

He was wearing that old t-shirt again. Tony sent a bunch of clothes even before their thing started. Technically, his team sent him clothes and necessities. But after their thing started, Tony got involved, picked some stuff that would suit him, but Barnes never wore it. What did he do with those? Is he selling it on eBay? Why does he keep sharing the shitty Rogers's shitty T-shirt collection?

He looked good, though. A little tired, but he always looked like that when he came to him. How could a guy pull off 'tired' look hot? When Tony was tired, he became shit. But Barnes looked like he was shooting a woman's magazine's porn section. With lots of people doing makeup and lights and retouching. Barnes didn't have any of those and still looked like he walked out of a photoshoot. He even made Rogers's shitty five-dollar t-shirt to a couple thousand dollars vintage. Tony thought dazed, yes, black and white, shoot in black and white. That suits him.

Barnes turned pink and shifted a little. Tony came to his senses and swore quietly. Fuck, he had been staring for too long. And he was still holding the gun.

So, how did this dance go?

Tony tapped the spot beside him.

"You'll hurt yourself," Barnes sat on the edge of the couch and muttered, taking Tony's gun away. Tony knew by experience, "I'm not a kid playing with toys, I'm fucking Ironman, and by the way, I made that fucking gun myself," didn't work on Barnes, so he let him take it.

Barnes stared at his own hand hard, as if there was something very interesting about it, like a teenage stoner. It was his metal hand, so much interesting than a teenage stoner's but still.

Barnes was waiting. Stubborn bastard.

Every. Fucking. Time. 

But Tony couldn't help but smile. 

At first, Barnes was so shy and hesitant, Tony worried maybe Barnes didn't really want this. But Barnes kept coming back, so Tony let him in.

Now, after more than a dozen times, Barnes was unsure to make the first move.

Tony was never a patient man. It should be irritating, but somehow Barnes made it tolerable.

"Come here," Tony said softly, pulling Barnes to lie next to him. Barnes went straight for Tony's arm and curled into him fast, Tony let out a groan at the impact.

"It's fine. Come back," Tony dragged Barnes in, who got spooked at Tony's groan.

Barnes was hesitant to make the first move, but when he got his permission, he clung to Tony in a second. He was a huge guy who wasn't familiar with human contact, so he sometimes hugged or rubbed or squeezed a bit harder, like a Great Dane sitting in its' tiny human's lap believing without any doubt it's a puppy. Tony should stop comparing Barnes to dogs, but Barnes breathed satisfied like a dog getting a belly rub.

Tony never had a dog. Why not get one now? A very sexy, deadly, and a sleep-deprived dog? This could be his mid-life crisis move, except Tony wanted this to stick.

"Mission went well?" Tony put his arm around Barnes and asked.

"We won."

"I know that. I'm asking if it went 'well'"

Tony intertwined their legs together, pulling him closer, and Barnes let out a groan. Tony frowned because it was not a good groan. It was a 'pain groan.'

"Did you skip medical again?" Tony asked, feeling around Barnes's body, seeking the wound. Barnes hid his face in Tony's chest.

"I know you can hear me," Tony tilted Barnes's face, making him look at him.

"It's just a cracked rib. It'll go away tomorrow," Barnes sighed.

"Yeah, good for you, super-soldier," As soon as Tony let go of his face, Barnes wiggled in again.

It was an excellent couch, but it wasn't big enough for two adult males, especially when one of them was a super-soldier built like a brick. Tony could've taken him to the master bedroom, which was much roomier, but he was too sleepy to leave the couch. It wasn't because Barnes had to move in closer for both of them to stay on.

"New shampoo?" Tony asked, playing with Barnes's hair. Tony knew Barnes was drifting off, but he liked to talk to Barnes when he was sleepy. Because Barnes trying to fight off sleep to answer was so very adorable. And sometimes Tony got a straight answer, which was a rare thing.

Instead of giving him the answer, Barnes breathed softly, already deep in sleep. Tony stopped himself from pressing his lips on Barnes's forehead. 

Because they were not fucking. 

Seriously. They didn't even kiss. Tony had no fucking idea what this was.

Tony mindlessly stroked Barnes's back and thought, how the hell did this happen?

\--

Like all Tony's notable tales, it happened when he was drunk. 

Tony was in the communal kitchen at 3 am, drunk, desperate for a snack when he heard a strange noise. It was coming from the shared TV room right next to the kitchen.

Tony summoned his thing and slowly approached, and found it was Barnes, asleep, crammed in the tiny couch. Barnes was sweating and shaking, murmuring something in Russian.

A nightmare.

Tony wanted to wake Barnes but didn't know how to. Tony made some noise, didn't work. A little louder. Still didn't get through. Tony shook his shoulder, wishing Barnes won't kill him.

Barnes woke up immediately, turned to Tony. His eyes were glassy, with no expression. Tony thought maybe it was a bad idea, maybe Barnes would lash out when Barnes tugged him in. Before Tony could do anything, Barnes pushed Tony to lie down and got on top of him in one smooth motion.

Tony froze. What the hell is going on?

Barnes murmured something, his breathing got even and fell asleep again. This time he looked so peaceful, Tony couldn't bear to wake him up.

Barnes having trouble sleeping wasn't a secret.

If Tony trapped under him would get him to sleep, why not.

\--

Tony was deep asleep when Barnes woke up. After half an hour of watching Barnes sleep, Tony had to stop staring at him, it was creepy.

Tony was pretty tired too. His sleep plan, if you could call that a plan, was work till you pass out, or drink till you pass out. So, Barnes's body heat and his soft snoring pushed Tony to a blissful, no dream sleep.

Then he heard Barnes clearing his throat.

"Um, Stark?"

"What?" Tony murmured, annoyed that the warm body on top of him was moving away. He grabbed it and put it back on him like a blanket, refusing to get back to the real world.

"What happened?" Barnes's confused voice pushed him right out.

Shit. Tony found Barnes looking down at him with his eyes wide.

This wasn't supposed to happen. Tony was planning to get out before Barnes woke up.

Tony got off from the couch right away.

"Why are you here?" Barnes asked, and Tony got an awful feeling that Barnes didn't know what happened.

"Wait, I didn't. You got me first and I…" Tony stammered, struggling to explain that he didn't creepily crawl under him while he was sleeping.

"I thought I was dreaming," Barnes murmured.

"Nope, it all happened," Tony replied, relieved, rubbing his eyes.

"Why didn't you leave?"

"What? Push you off?"

"Yes."

"You looked tired."

"But why?"

"I'm a generous guy. You didn't know that? I'm hurt, Barnes."

Barnes, speechless, his face pink and the color getting deeper, was surprisingly adorable, but Tony had to intervene before he exploded.

"You can just say, thank you?" Tony grinned.

"Thank you," Barnes whispered.

\--

It was a one-time thing, Tony thought.

Although it was probably the best sleep Tony had in months. Barnes smelled great, and his warm body, just heavy enough to push Tony in the right places, definitely a plus.

Then Barnes showed up when Tony was working in his workshop.

"Oh, is this your check-up day? Friday, you're a bad assistant."

"No, it's not till next week. No, it's not that," Barnes muttered.

"Are you having trouble with the arm? God damn it, I thought I fixed the glitch," Tony said, turning back to get his tools.

"Um, I can't sleep." 

Tony heard Barnes and turned around to face him so fast he almost fell down from the chair.

Barnes looked down at his shoes, trying to avoid Tony's stare. He looked drained, bags under his eyes significant.

"Ok, come along," Tony went to his couch.

Barnes slept in Tony's arm for four hours straight, then left, muttering, thank you, and it's not going to happen again.

\--

It did happen.

Three days later, Friday alerted that Barnes was standing at the door.

Tony opened the door, and Barnes looked like he was two seconds before running out. And two seconds before dying. But he came willingly when Tony held his wrist and took him to bed.

Barnes passed out, leaning his head on Tony's shoulders, his arm draped on Tony's stomach.

Tony went in and out of sleep since it wasn't his regular bedtime, which was planned to be in twelve hours later. When Tony was awake, he watched Barnes sleeping with a deep frown on and then thought, No, no, no, He wasn't going to be a pervert. Not this late in his life. He couldn't change his life completely, it would be too much work. And then tried to think about work, but ended up watching Barnes again.

Barnes tried to sneak out after six hours of sleep.

"Rude. Where's my awkward 'Thank you'?" Tony asked.

"Um, I thought you were sleeping. Thank you."

"Next time, please come before you're about to die," Tony nearly pleaded as he put Barnes in the security system.

"There, you can come whenever you want, ok?"

Barnes nodded and left without a word, but Tony noticed a glimpse of Barnes's smile.

\--

It became a regular thing.

Tony's first thought was maybe they were dating. Strange way to start a relationship, but you get used to strange when you're Ironman.

Tony thought this relationship was going somewhere until he realized it wasn't.

Yes, Barnes came to Tony, they slept together while cuddling intimately. But then Barnes usually left before Tony woke up, and outside of their sleeping time, Barnes didn't talk to him, didn't approach him, didn't even look at him straight.

Maybe what Barnes needed was a warm body, and Tony happened to be there. This thought made Tony frown, but in case that was the case, he tried to prepare himself for the disappointment.

Tony's fascination with Barnes was escalating fast to an embarrassing crush. But he was happy he could help Barnes sleep.

Well, not exactly 'happy.' He would instead do things to him that Rogers would definitely not approve of, but happy enough.

But the others didn't seem to feel that way.

\--

Barton was the first one that saw them.

They were in the communal TV room, this time Tony as the little spoon. Barnes was nuzzling on Tony's shoulder and had his arm around him. Tony couldn't sleep, so he was working on his pad, careful not to wake Barnes up.

Barton found them, and his jaw dropped. Tony put his finger on his lips, sending the message, shut the fuck up, and go, with his gaze. And Barton left, shaking his head, murmuring something to himself.

\--

Barton blurted out during his weapon check-up.

"It's just weird." 

"What is?" Tony said half-heartedly, thinking, people have to stop talking to him when he worked. It was distracting and annoying.

"You and Barnes."

"None of your business."

"How's Barnes in bed? Is he quiet and dark like when he's with us? I didn't know you were into that. Or is he a sweetheart? And the serum thing, Steve never tells me. What's up with that?" Barton smirked, which made Tony want to punch him, but that was the typical reaction around Barton. 

"No. We're sleep buddies," Tony snapped.

Shit. Tony wasn't supposed to say that.

"Don't talk to me when I work. Or I will send you out with pink rubber bows next time."

"Sleep buddies? Not fuck buddies?"

"Shut up."

"So, you don't fuck. That's double weird."

"Oh, you want to go to 'weird'? You and Natasha."

Barton shut his mouth.

\--

Tony blamed Barton for it. He left a vivid image of Barnes, quiet and dark, holding him down, or Barnes, sweet, slowly taking his time with him, and in the morning, Tony woke up with a semi hard-on.

Tony saw Barnes sleeping, with his stupid face, stupid long eyelashes, stupid lips, and it became semi to serious in a matter of seconds.

Think about something else. Tony tried to find something frantically, but his eyes kept wandering around Barnes's face, neck, stomach, and below.

Barnes kicked the blanket off when he slept, super-soldier body heat and all. Tony almost shouted in frustration when his eyes stopped where Barnes's sleep shirt went up and showed him a glimpse of his pelvis and waist.

Tony's freak out woke Barnes up, which was the last thing he wanted. Barnes opened his eyes heavy with sleep, and then found Tony's hard-on. Looked at Tony again. And then his boner again. And then his face. There was something quite comical about it, but it didn't feel fucking funny to Tony then.

"Don't freak out," Tony started, more to himself than Barnes.

"You're..."

"It's not," Tony cut him off.

"It's ok," Barnes said softly.

"It's nothing."

"Really. It's fine."

Tony felt the conversation going nowhere, and if it was heading somewhere like, "I'm sorry I don't like your boner poking me in my thighs, So good-bye," Tony was going to kill himself.

"It's a 'sleep boner'!" Tony yelled and ran to the shower.

\--

Tony had such temptation to touch his cock when he took a shower, but he stopped himself. Instead, he turned on the cold water.

When Tony came out, Barnes was gone. Thank god.

Not masturbating thinking about Barnes, Tony was very proud of himself but couldn't brag it to anyone, so he just got a cookie as his reward and went down to the workshop.

\--

Rogers was waiting for him.

"Oh, fuck. Stop sneaking on me like that," Tony almost dropped his no-masturbating-reward, but Rogers caught it for him.

"No, please don't!" Tony shouted, but Rogers, shameless, broke it in half and took the half for himself. 

Tony wondered what Rogers would do to him if he told him what that cookie meant.

"I have something I want to talk to you about," Rogers said, and Tony knew what it was going to be about.

"Bucky and you."

"God, go away. Get a life," Tony frowned.

"I'm not asking anything. You're both my friends," Tony grunted loudly. "You are."

"I want you two to be happy," Rogers said, with his best sincere look.

"Ok, then leave. I've got work to do."

It didn't work on Tony anymore.

"I know you guys haven't actually, yet..." Rogers hesitated.

"What? Fuck?" Tony smirked at how fast Rogers went red and uncomfortable.

"Barton doesn't know how to keep his mouth shut," Tony thought about what kind of revenge he should plan for Barton's dedication.

"Tony, I don't think..."

"Don't worry. I'm not going to fuck your BFF. He just has some trouble sleeping, and he needs contact and body heat. I don't know why that's me, not you, so, rethink your friendship, buddy," Tony dismissed flatly.

"You hugged him. Before his press conference," Rogers blurted out.

"Yeah, so?"

"Bucky doesn't like people touching him."

"Me too. Actually, no one likes other people randomly touching them. You like this?" Tony poked Rogers with a screwdriver.

"I think that's when you got to him," Rogers said, trying to dodge Tony's persistent attack.

"What?"

"Bucky never talked about you before, about anyone. And that night, he said something." Rogers grinned.

"You're nice, and you smell good."

\--

Tony remembered the night Rogers mentioned.

For Barnes to be accepted as one of the team, they had to make a public statement. The group came together to show people they supported Barnes, so Tony was there too.

Barnes looked fine, except he kept reading the speech over and over again. Then Tony noticed Barnes's hand shaking a little.

Being in front of all those people who are ready to judge you in a flash, having to show them your past so openly, Tony could completely relate.

Hell, why not, Tony thought and hugged him. Tony felt Barnes startle, and squeezed tighter, gently said, "It's going to be ok."

After a bit, Tony felt Barnes's hand on the small of his back.

\--

Barnes's comment about Tony, it might feel like something light you say about others, nothing particular or special about it, but for Barnes, it was huge.

Barnes adjusted to work quickly. He was sharp, focused, and smart on missions, but that was it.

He avoided meeting others outside of the mission, avoided social events at any cost. The team except Rogers had a bet going on when Barnes talk to them first. It didn't happen yet.

So, Barnes talking about Tony and in such a warm way made Tony's heart jump.

Tony looked down at Barnes, laying his head on Tony's lap.

"Can't sleep?" Tony asked, running his fingers through Barnes's hair.

Barnes opened his eyes and stared at him.

Tony couldn't read his face and thought,

What are you thinking? What are you seeing?

Then from Barnes's insistent gaze, Tony felt his face heat up, so he covered Barnes's eyes with his hand.

"Go to sleep," Tony said, shaking off his desire to lean down and kiss him.

\--

"You guys are really weird," Natasha said as soon as Tony entered the communal kitchen.

Tony should never, ever come to the communal areas, too many spies with dedicated plans to torture him.

"How long have you been standing there?" Tony asked, looking in the fridge. 

He left his cheesecake here. And naturally, it was gone. Why, why, why did he do that? Then he remembered, he was having his dessert in his workshop when Barnes called him. The cheesecake was too good to keep it to himself, so he got a couple of pieces, they shared one, and Barnes slept lying on top of him.

"Ten minutes."

Tony raised his eyebrows, and Natasha confessed.

"Fine, I've been here for an hour. I didn't know you'll be this late."

"So, what's the problem this time?"

"You know I don't like meddling," Natasha said, coyly.

"Liar, you love it."

"Ok, fine. Whatever. You and Barnes."

"Yeah, what?" Tony got defensive right away.

"You guys are not fucking."

"Yeah, we're friends, I think. Friends don't fuck."

Natasha crossed her arm, and Tony had to admit.

"Ok, fine. I fucked a few friends in my long, long life, darling, but Barnes isn't a fuckable friend. Well, he might be a 'fuckable' friend, but I don't know. Maybe, but no. We do spend a lot of time together. But that's what friends do, right? Rhodey's been busy. Pepper's permanent official position is that she disowned me. Happy, he's with Pepper, and I never trusted him. But I never slept in the same bed with Rhodey before, so it's a bit different, but every relationship is kinda different, is what I've heard," Tony babbled.

"You want to?" Natasha cut him off, her eyes sharp.

"I'm not going to answer that. We are friends, and we don't fuck. That's it," Tony stated. That piece of cheesecake wasn't worth this frustrating conversation.

"Just tell him how you feel."

"What if he doesn't say 'Yes'?" Tony muttered, feeling so young, all of a sudden.

"At least you’ll find out. I know you. You're going crazy inside."

True.

Natasha bent down, letting Tony ogle her backside. Regardless of Tony's crush, he was still human. She found the god damn cheesecake, handed it to him and said,

"If he says 'No,' I'll give you back all your toys."

"Wait, what did you steal?"

Natasha was already turning the corner.

"Just talk to him!"

For once in his life, Tony would like to have the last word and walk out on Natasha.

\--

That night, Tony came back thinking, they should talk, they should talk, and found Barnes turned on some shitty reality TV show, in his pajamas, had a game going on his Ipad, and reading something on his phone, eating in bed.

Tony's first thought was,

Oh, he got three screens going, that's nice.

The second thought was,

Tony hates crumbs in bed.

The third thought was,

The shitty reality TV show. They were supposed to watch it together. Barnes fucking cheated.

So, Tony just hopped into bed.

Why would they talk about it when they could eat in bed and watch shit TV together?

\--

Tony got stuck in Russia, of all the places. It was supposed to be a one-day business, but a mean winter storm hit, and they banned all air travel, including Tony's jet.

Tony worried about how Barnes was dealing with his sleep problem. But he couldn't ask him directly. They could sleep on top of each other, but they weren't at a casual text level.

After four days, Tony couldn't handle it. He knew he shouldn't, but asked Friday to find out.

Tony just got the report.

The first day, 7 hours, 12 minutes.  
The second day, 7 hours, 19 minutes.  
The third day, 7 hours, 14 minutes.

Barnes was sleeping fine.

That's interesting.

\--

Tony was about to head down to the workshop when Barnes came.

"You've been good?" Tony asked.

"I couldn't sleep," Barnes murmured.

Ok, liar.

Tony pulled him to bed, and Barnes nestled in right away.

"You asleep?" Tony asked after a lot of snuggling.

Barnes flinched but didn't answer.

"Don't get into acting. You'll starve to death," Tony whispered, playing with his hair.

Barnes was wide awake, but his warm body worked on Tony. He didn't get proper rest worrying when Barnes, the liar, was sleeping just fine.

Tony was about to drift off when he felt something large, hard, poking right on the small of his back.

Tony grinned and stretched his back muscle, rubbing on it, and felt Barnes sucking in a short breath.

"I'm going to the bathroom," Barnes declared.

"Why?" Tony asked.

"Because I have to."

"You have to?"

Tony turned back to face him and slowly grazed on it with his thigh.

"Is this the reason?" Tony batted his eyes.

"It's a 'sleep boner,'" Barnes stammered.

"You didn't sleep yet," Tony smirked.

It was dark, but Tony was sure Barnes was blushing to the root of his hair. 

"I was nice to you when you had one," Barnes muttered.

"Well, mine started as a sleep boner, but yours is definitely not."

Tony stroked Barnes's heated cheek and moved his thigh faster, drawing a whimper from him.

"You're unbelievable," Barnes grumbled, clenching his teeth.

"Yeah? I could be..."

Tony didn't get to finish his sentence because Barnes's hot mouth swallowed him.

\--

Tony learned a few things.

Barnes was a sweetheart until he wasn't. Super Soldier recovery was impressive. It had been at least a month since Barnes slept fine, so maybe he was a good actor.

Barnes had his share of cold showers during the nights they slept together. Tony just sucked at picking up signals. Barnes said he wanted to do this from the beginning making Tony scream, "We could've done this three months ago? We're doing it again!"

This time Tony did more damage to Barnes, and he was very proud. Tony lay on top of Barnes, immensely better without clothes, marked Barnes's back while Barnes was dozing off with his face buried on the pillow. Barnes muttered something muffled.

"Huh?"

"Thank you," Barnes whispered.

Tony slapped Barnes's ass and woke him up for another round.


End file.
